“Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice. Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it. Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. The one who has contempt for instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded. A wise person’s instruction is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.” (Proverbs 13:10-14 CSB – Read the chapter)
You’ve perhaps heard the phrase, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The idea is that spending time away from someone can allow petty qualms of the past to gradually fade away, inclining our hearts more and more in their direction where perhaps that wasn’t quite as much the case. An absence like this, though, eventually builds hope in our hearts for a reunion. The longer that hope’s fulfillment gets delayed, the greater the hope grows. But hope like this is a kind of weight. The more it grows, the heavier it gets. Leave it to grow too long, and it can start to wear you down. Sometimes a proverb points you to something you need to do better in life; sometimes they simply describe what is true about it. Let’s talk about one of these latter proverbs in this next group.
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